Chimney / Masonry Service

It depends on how much you burn. The usual benchmark is a sweep once the soot and creosote inside the flue build up to about an eighth of an inch, and a quick inspection will tell you whether you’ve reached that point. A household that burns most evenings from fall through winter can hit that mark within a single season, which means a cleaning every year. A fireplace that only sees a few fires can often go longer between sweeps, though an annual check still makes sense, because rain, debris, and animals get into a flue whether or not anyone lights a fire. The wood matters too. Seasoned, dry logs leave far less residue than damp ones. Gas appliances run cleaner, but the flue should still be looked over on a regular schedule.

Most should have one. Think of the liner as the flue’s protective lining. It keeps heat and acidic combustion gases away from the brick and mortar, and it holds smoke inside the flue where it belongs, so it can’t slip out through a cracked clay tile or a gap in old mortar. Swapping in a gas insert or a high-efficiency stove usually means fitting a new liner that matches the appliance. If your existing liner is cracked or has missing sections, it should be replaced, and an inspection can tell you whether that’s the case. We install caps and liners as part of our chimney work.

Repair is the right call when the trouble is contained, like a handful of worn mortar joints, a cracked crown, or one or two bricks that have given out. A rebuild becomes the better choice when the damage goes deeper than the surface. Examples are bricks crumbling across a large part of the stack, loose sections near the top, a noticeable lean, or mortar failing so widely that repointing wouldn’t hold. In many cases a rebuild only needs to go down to the roofline or just below it, not the whole structure, and we match the brick as closely as we can. After inspecting, we explain which one makes sense and why, so you aren’t paying for more than the chimney needs.

Yes. Rebuilds, new chimneys, and big changes to an existing one often come with permit requirements, and working out which ones apply isn’t something most homeowners want to deal with. We secure the permits for you.

Yes, new chimney construction is part of our work. Height is set by code, and the common rule is known as 3-2-10. Under that rule, the top of the chimney has to clear the point where it passes through the roof by at least 3 feet, and it also has to stand at least 2 feet above anything within 10 feet of it, such as a nearby ridge or a taller section of roof. Those clearances keep sparks and smoke away from the roof and give the fireplace the pull it needs. After that, the fuel, the appliance, and the layout of your roof settle the details, and we work through those with you before we build.